Browse Items (63 total)

In this excerpt from the third lecture on the Inner Life, Thurman says that it is rational and necessary to have a goal in life. To be without a goal is to undermine the self-respect of one's own being. Life is dynamic and responds to our commitment. When we hold a goal or purpose at our center, life energy rallies to support our efforts. This goal need not be extravagant, but can be as simple as making something beautiful from our lives. With a goal in our hearts, we are linked with God as a…

On this first sermon on the Inner Life, Thurman speaks to the varying levels of the inner life. Thurman walks us through the thinking mind and our ability to nourish it. Next, he examines the "vast continuum" of the unconscious, and how we might relate to it. And finally, Thurman says that there is an even deeper level, "the group soul," that Thurman refers to as God. Thurman urges that we must tunnel all the way down to this "eternal residue," like the great Sahara trees that bathe their roots…

In this fifth lecture on the Inner Life, Thurman proposes that we cannot live without approval. We hunger for approval, and approval guides who we become. We dance in a world of approvals, from larger society to our more intimate communities. The security we get from belonging affects how we live and make decisions. Thurman says that we must come to a point where we settle for nothing less than ultimate approval, that is, approval from God, from the deepest part of our being. With this, we go…

In this sixth lecture on the Inner Life, Thurman explores ethical awareness. For the religious person, any sin against another is a sin against God. The person must always connect their acts to their ultimate relationship with life. We are all personally responsible for our ethical lives. Thurman says that we often fall into the trap of pushing people outside of our moral responsibility, but he insists that Christian ethics proclaim that no person can ever be defined as being out of bounds.…

In this final lecture on the Inner Life, Thurman illustrates the infinite value of the human spirit. Here, Thurman ponders what it is that makes human beings "a little lower than God." There is an aspect of the human spirit that is limitless. The deepest things in us are always emerging against all obstacles. Once we become aware of this truth, all experiences become our teachers, helping to liberate our depths and bring us towards fulfillment. Our task is to honor this mystery of the human…

In this second sermon on the prophets, Thurman talks about God's unwavering faithfulness to human beings even in the midst of hardship. Through Hosea's writings, Thurman illustrates the ways in which crisis tempts us into abandoning our faith in God, the true source of our security. Thurman suggests that God's punishment and redemption is carried out through the logic of cause and effect. The world is not full of war because God is evil, but because our social processes lead to war.…

In this final entry on the Parables of Jesus, Thurman examines the Parable of the Rich Fool. The overarching question for Thurman is this: How do we relate to the money and resources that we have? We aspire to protect ourselves and make flourishing lives with our resources, but we also find ourselves measuring our value by these things. Thurman suggests that we measure our lives by our commitment – not by how much we have, but rather if we use our goods for things in which we truly believe.…

In this second lecture on The Meaning of Loyalty, Thurman discusses the problem of conflicting loyalties. We live complex lives with a hierarchy of causes that cannot be reduced to one. How do we resolve loyalty to our ideals in conflict with our loyalty to self-preservation? There is no simple answer, but Thurman poses that we become loyal to the experience of loyalty itself. This principle may be brought into any situation, and serves to ensure the integrity of the person.

In this third lecture on loyalty, Thurman discusses the conflict between the individual and the state. For Thurman, loyalty to something supremely worthy is the ultimate basis for self-respect and significance. Thurman's word for this ultimate cause is God. Thurman posits that the state can either make itself a vehicle of this human striving, or it can become a competitor to it; the state can attempt to move into the space that only God should occupy. At best, political expression is a vehicle…

In this fifth sermon on the prophets, Thurman finds Deutero-Isaiah wrestling with what it means to be in relationship with God. The prophet is troubled by the notion that Jews are supposed to be in automatic relationship with Jehovah, and yet they do not act like it. Thus the prophet concludes that it is not tribe or lineage that makes one a Jew, but rather moral and spiritual character. Anyone can thus "become a Jew" as the prophet says. Those who have had this experience of God play the part…